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The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on Monday ruled that pious Muslims are permitted to break the fast of Ramadan in order to take part in the "jihad" to regain control of the country.

In a series of messages posted on the Internet, Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie stated that on the anniversary of the historic Battle of Badr (July 26), a new historic battle would be waged to reverse the recent ouster of President Mohammed Morsi and the Brotherhood.

For the next 11 days until that battle begins, faithful Muslims are required to maintain demonstrations in public squares, and "the ruling against those who leave [the squares] is akin to the ruling against those who flee the battle and jihad against the infidels," said Badie.

The forces of Islam's prophet Mohammed also broke the fast of Ramadan in order to prepare for the Battle of Badr, in which the Muslims defeated the tribe controlling Mecca.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian army, which quickly sided with millions of anti-Morsi protesters in deposing the president earlier this month, fought back by freezing the funds of 14 leading Islamist leaders on Sunday.

To the chagrin of a great many Egyptians, the United States and other Western powers appear to be still supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, despite the fact that a majority of Egyptians say the group won the last election via deceit and fraud. Over the weekend, both Germany and the US called on Egypt's interim rulers to release Morsi, who is currently being held in a military barrack.

In a worrying sign of how quickly the situation could spiral out of control, Islamic militants on Monday opened fire on a bus in the Sinai town of El Arish, killing 3 people and wounding another 17.

The Egyptian army has, with the cooperation of Israel, significantly increased its activity in Sinai in an effort to root out Islamic terrorist organizations deeply embedded there.

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